By Audrey Peterman
On this 100th anniversary Black History Month tour, I want to whisk us all away to experience the legacy of two African American giants among the Giant Sequoias of Sequoia National Park in California. We will get a glimpse of the incredibly brilliant Brigadier Charles Young, and his deep humility that led to a giant sequoia being named in honor of Booker T. Washington in the Giant Grove, 1903.
At the time he was a Colonel, one of the first African American graduates of West Point, an experience he said he wouldn’t wish on his worst enemy. Throughout his time no one spoke to him, and he ate alone at a table as everyone avoided him. The poet, musician and a veteran of US wars against Native Americans in the American West and against natives in the jungles of the Philippines Captain Young arrived in Sequoia in June 1903. With him were 93 “Buffalo Soldiers” from Troops I and M of the Ninth US Cavalry and three white officers.
Picture these soldiers, having ridden hard for 16 days from the Presidio of San Francisco high up into this sacred forest of thousands-year-old living witnesses to the passage of time on Earth. I have no doubt the 2000-3000-year-old giant sequoias were just as elated to see them as the Buffalo Soldiers were to see this ancient forest. Their mission was to build a road into the forest that would allow privileged travelers to see the giant trees. They were so dedicated. the records show that in one summer they built as many roads as the combined results of three previous summers.
The citizens of nearby Visalia were so impressed that community leaders insisted that one of the giant sequoias should be named in Col Young’s honor. He refused, asserting that these living beings should not be diminished by the attachment of any human’s name. He capitulated only when it was agreed that the person honored would be Booker T. Washington, who was his contemporary.
The Booker T. Washington giant sequoia was selected and named in 1903, but by the late 20th Century had fallen into obscurity. Then, early in the 21st century newly retired Californian George Palmer learned about the Buffalo Soldiers’ story and pressed for the park to observe the Centennial of their service.
“I was so happy! I got in touch with Booker T’s great grandson, Ted Jackson, who is a district superintendent with California State Parks. I invited him to go see the tree with me and as we were driving up the mountain, he asked me if I would get out much into the Sequoia backcountry. He seemed to be terribly familiar with the environment here. Then I found out that he used to be a ranger here at the park and still camps out frequently in the backwoods.
“I took him to the tree. I’d just found it and the image I used to find was a fax of a Xerox, so it is quite low quality, but it had a couple of distinguishing features. So, we’re standing at the tree, and he looks at the picture and says, kind of incredulous,
“ ‘Is this the picture you used? Are you sure this is the right tree?’
“I got a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach. Then. At almost the same instant Ted looked at the trunk and there, exactly where the photo shows that a sign had hung, was a large old nail!
“That was the clincher. It was an unbelievably experience. . .”
I was privileged to be there in 2003 for the centennial celebrations. A giant sequoia was named in honor of Col. Young a few years later, and in 2024 it was renamed to commemorate the posthumous promotion of Brigadier General Young.
